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October 7, 2012

Filthy Review - 'My Ex'

My Ex (2010)

Review by Jude
Felton

During the
course of 2012 MVM Entertainment have released a couple of pretty darned good
Thai horror flicks, with The House and The Victim both getting DVD releases in
the UK. The good news is that this trend looks to continue for at least a
little while longer, with the DVD release of Piyapan Choopetch’s My Ex. I
believe they also have the sequel, My Ex 2: Haunted Lover, on the cards for
2013 as well.

What My Ex
does, and does quite well, is take familiar themes from Asian horror flicks, such
as ghostly girls, revenge, betrayal etc. and mix them all up into a quite
enjoyable horror flick. To look at it as purely a revenge tale, or a ghost
tale, would actually do the film an injustice. Sure, it is both of these
things, but the way they are melded together make for engrossing viewing.

The central
character of My Ex, and the man with the ex’s, is Ken. He’s a successful actor
who thinks nothing of dropping one girl to move on to the next. In fact, the
question is asked several times as to whether someone can have more than one
true love. This also reflects on Ken’s mind-frame, as even though he seems to
be a decent enough person, his attitudes towards women leaves a little to be
desired.

His current
girl is Ploy, a fellow actor, who is suspicious of Ken’s philandering ways. He’s
already left Bow heartbroken, whilst Meen is a little more on the aggressive side.
However, it is not until a tragic accident happens that events start to get
really sinister, with both Ken and Ploy being seemingly stalked, or haunted, by
strange events. So, it becomes clear that this is very much a supernatural
revenge flick, as it is anything else, and an enjoyable one it is too.

Choopetch
paces the action nicely, and gets straight into the story without too much
padding. Sure, we get plenty of paparazzi action, and the themes of the Press
invading privacy are played with to a certain degree, but it’s when the scares
start and the blood flows that the film really finds its feet. There’s a great
atmosphere to this movie, coupled with atmospheric cinematography and
convincing performances from the leads.

There was
always the danger that My Ex could turn into just another Asian ghost movie,
but it really doesn’t. Yes, they do pop up and at times they are exceptionally
creepy, but it is the impact and consequences that comes across as being most
effective here. Having a ghost or two pop up is just a bonus! With all that
being said My Ex does still manage to throw in plenty of surprises along the
way, many of which I didn’t see coming.

If I did have
any real issues with this release, it would not really be about the film. The
film is a solid and entertaining yarn, and I fully intend to check out the
sequel (which was also made in 2010), with the right balance of plot, scares
and blood. No, instead my problem is that firstly there’s no Blu-ray release to
my knowledge, and the DVD release comes with no extras aside from a trailer. I
find that a little disappointing, however MVM are building up a decent looking
library, especially their Asian movie catalogue, so I won’t grumble too loudly.

Overall then,
My Ex is a great little movie so I will recommend grabbing yourself a copy. It
might not bring too much new to the table, in terms of content, but the manner
in which it is put together manages to keep it entertaining throughout.

My Ex is released on DVD by MVM Entertainment on October 8th in the UK.